| Bryan Forbes CBE | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 July 1926 Stratford, West Ham, Essex (now Greater London) |
| Occupation | Actor Screenwriter Film producer Film director Author |
| Spouse | Constance Smith (m. 1951–1955) Nanette Newman (m. 1955–present) |
| Children | Sarah Standing Emma Forbes |
Bryan Forbes, CBE is an English film director, actor and writer.
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Bryan Forbes was born John Theobald Clarke on 22 July 1926 in Queen Mary's Hospital, Stratford, West Ham, Essex (now Greater London), and grew up at 43 Cranmer Road, Forest Gate, West Ham, Essex (now Greater London).
Forbes trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts but did not complete his studies. After military service from 1945 to 1948, he played numerous supporting roles in British films including in 1955 The Colditz Story, alongside John Mills, as well as appearing on the stage, but was obliged to change his name by British Equity to avoid confusion with the adolescent actor John Clark. He began also to write for the screen, receiving his first full credit for The Cockleshell Heroes in 1955. Another noted screenplay of his from this period was for The League of Gentlemen in 1959, in which he also acted.
He formed a production company with his frequent collaborator Richard Attenborough in 1959 (Beaver Films), which went on to make The Angry Silence in 1960, a screenplay by Forbes in which Attenborough took the lead role, and both shared production responsibilities. In 1961 he made his directorial debut Whistle Down the Wind, again produced by Attenborough. In 1964, Forbes wrote and directed Séance on a Wet Afternoon, for which he won a 1965 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Foreign Film Screenplay. That same year he wrote the third screen adaptation of the Somerset Maugham novel Of Human Bondage. In 1965 he went to Hollywood to make King Rat. A 1968 caper film, Deadfall, starred Michael Caine.
In 1969, Forbes was appointed chief of production and managing director of the film studio Associated British (EMI), but the experience was not a success and he resigned the post in 1971, though he was partially responsible for financing The Railway Children (1970). After his experience as an executive, Forbes film output declined, although he did enjoy success as the director of The Raging Moon (1971) and The Stepford Wives (1975).
In 1972, Forbes started work on the documentary, "Elton John And Bernie Taupin Say Goodbye Norma Jean and Other Things," which chronicled the life of a young John and Taupin during their rise to fame in the early years of the duo's now legendary partnership. The project would take Forbes a full year to complete, and in particular provided a behind the scenes look at the writing and recording of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," including interviews with John, Taupin, and band members including Nigel Olsson and Dee Murray, as well as John's mother, Sheila, DJM label president Dick James and son Stephen, and footage of John's famed 1973 Hollywood Bowl concert. (Some of the footage was licensed for the Eagle Vision Classic Albums series "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" documentary.)
During the filming, Forbes formed a close friendship with John and Taupin, which led him to do other work with them, including photography on the "Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" album sleeves. The documentary aired in the U.S. on ABC TV shortly after completion, and was later briefly issued on VHS. No official DVD release has surfaced, at least not in the U.S.
The Slipper and the Rose (1976), International Velvet (1978) and The Naked Face (1984) were not successful. More recently, he scripted Attenborough's Chaplin (1992)
Born in London E15, he is a West Ham United supporter. Forbes has been married to his second wife, actress Nanette Newman, since 1955, and has often directed her. Roger Moore was not their best man as it is believed - which his wife confirmed on the Alan Titchmarsh Show. The couple have two daughters: Emma Forbes and Sarah Standing (born 21 May 1959), the latter married to actor John Standing.
He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1975, though he is currently in remission, and since the early 1970s he has divided his energies between cinema, television, theatre and writing a number of successful novels and two volumes of autobiography. He is now a regular contributor to The Spectator magazine.
In 2004, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the arts and he currently serves as president of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain.
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